This invention relates to a process for preparing partially brominated non-condensed ring polyaromatics. Exemplary of such brominated compounds are octabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromodiphenyl ether, pentabromodiphenyl ether, and the like. These partially brominated compounds are useful as flame retardants in various thermoset and thermoplastic formulations.
The processes often used to commercially produce such partially brominated compounds yield a product which is a mixture of polybromo homologs, with the product being identified in accordance with the predominate homolog which is present. For example, a typical octabromodiphenyl ether product would contain hexabromodiphenyl ether, heptabromodiphenyl ether, octabromodiphenyl ether, and nonabromodiphenyl ether, with the octabromodiphenyl ether being the predominant compound, e.g., the octabromodiphenyl ether would comprise at least about 85% of the product. The more specific a process is for the selected homolog, the more desirable the product produced thereby is.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a process for preparing a partially brominated non-condensed ring polyaromatic product, which process is highly specific for producing the homolog desired.